Invisible Things

by Mat Johnson

When feeling particularly optimistic, Nalini would advocate for the theory that, if limited to very small bands, people could even be enjoyable. In limited doses. But the unavoidable truth was that, when people were given the chance to form groups of significant size, tribalism erupted among them like recurring blisters, and thus Homo sapiens’s true nature was revealed. Because with the tribes came the bickering, the rancor, the fighting among polar opposites, the infighting among ideological twins, the rejection of empirical evidence in favor of the soothing myths and partisan lies. Nalini could list the faults of humanity all day; it was all rather predictable, but still fascinating.

Bob was a bully; it was very straightforward. Some classifications didn’t require a doctorate in applied sociology.

But the Allies of Alien Abductees Sunday meet-up at Tres Abuelitas was the gold standard. They had those private dining rooms, they had those pitchers of Bud for five bucks, they turned tater tots into art. Just two bucks more to get meat on top, and then it was a meal you could sleep on.

For her part, Nalini didn’t experience Depression as an individual stage but, rather, as the fibrous connective tissue that held all the other stages together.

“Monumental Muting: the societal habit of avoiding topics so monumentally intractable that discussing them has no positive outcomes and countless negative ones. If there’re no definitive answers, and every time you talk about it you risk offending or alienating others, why bother?

Their delusion functions as justification for maintaining the income inequality that provides for their lifestyle.

“People of New Roanoke! True citizens of this, the greatest city in the universe! And by that I mean not just the people who are here, those who have chosen to confront the malcontents in person, but also those viewing at home. The patriots who don’t have to scream in the streets, because they are extraordinarily comfortable. Comfort is underrated. A comfortable citizen is an appreciative one. It means they’re happy with the way things are—not taking our blessings for granted. And in being content—in staying home and doing nothing—they are displaying the greatest protest of all. The protest against being an ingrate. And by doing so, they are doing their part as true New Roanokan patriots to maintain order. We salute you!”